How to Make the Ultimate Road Trip Playlist

Road trips happen all-year-round, so just because summer is coming to an end, it doesn’t mean you can’t hit the highway and take off on an epic journey or maybe to surprise your kids at college. Wherever you’re heading in your car, truck, or SUV, there is one thing that can make a good road trip great, or salvage a less-than-ideal road trip: an awesome playlist.

Before you take your next road trip, here are a few tips on how to make the perfect playlist for your journey:

What Makes a Great Playlist?

The music you listen to is going to put you in a certain mood. On a long road trip, you’re going to want to have some energetic tunes playing, but remember, you have to mix it up. If you’re into really hard metal, great, but after three or fours songs and lots of headbanging at the wheel, you’re probably going to be ready for a nap. The challenge is to find songs, no matter the genre, that keep you engaged (nodding your heading, shimmying your shoulders…) as you drive without being over-the-top, or distracting.

It’s also important to change it up a bit. Even if you’re REALLY into jazz, listening to jazz for five hours straight is going to get old. Mix a few different types of music together so you don’t get sick of your playlist before you reach your destination.

Where to Discover New Music

So, you need some new tunes to listen to since you haven’t bought an album since people...well...bought albums. Lucky for you, it’s never been easier to find new music from all over the planet at the click of a mouse.

8 Tracks

This website makes your life easy because it gives you access to seemingly unlimited playlists that people from around the world upload and share themselves. Use 8 Track to get playlist ideas, or if you’re busy, just select a few that suit you and listen to them while you’re on your road trip.

Spotify

Offering both free and premium memberships, Spotify is (at least for now) the place to go to discover new music and listen to your favourite tunes. There are a lot of great features, but the best is likely the music Spotify suggests for you. Discover new bands, or old bands you never got around to listening to - Spotify will serve you up some great music meant for your road trip playlist.

So, how do you know if you made the Ultimate Road Trip Playlist? If you spend most of your time on the road smiling, singing, laughing, and grooving along to the music, you know your playlist did its job. Of course, your playlist will sound a lot better if you’re driving one of our awesome vehicles, so before you hit the road, browse our inventory and find the ideal road trip vehicle for your next journey.

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